If the Grand Canyon National Park rescue helicopter doesn’t have a frequent flyer program, it should now.

During a seven-day stretch in late May, lifesaving personnel flew into the canyon aboard a helicopter to perform lifesaving missions. The incidents they responded to ranged from a hiker with a lower leg injury at mile 35 of the Colorado River, to a person suffering from heat-related illness on one of the canyon鈥檚 main corridor trails.

According to Meghan Smith, the park鈥檚 preventive search and rescue supervisor, medical evacuations by helicopter are typical in the Grand Canyon during the busy summer tourist season, and in some stretches the SAR team can average between one and two a day.

But 13 in seven days is on the high end, and Smith believes there’s a reason for the uptick: construction on听the Grand Canyon’s Transcanyon water pipeline.

鈥淐onstruction on our pipeline has closed key sections of main trails that people would otherwise use as routes in and out of the canyon,鈥� Smith told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 rerouting people into areas they don鈥檛 normally go, which is causing problems for us.鈥�

Built in the sixties, the Transcanyon Waterline stretches 12.5 miles across the canyon and delivers drinking water from a spring on the North Rim to the hotels, visitor centers, and lodges on the South Rim. But the pipeline regularly breaks or requires maintenance, and since 2010 i approximately 85 different repairs.

In 2023 crews began a four-year, $200 million construction project to replace the pipe, and in the fall of 2024 that project shuttered several of the park’s most popular trails. The closure includes the River Trail, an essential link on the canyon floor that connects the Bright Angel Trail to both the North and South Kaibab trails. The River Trail is slated to reopen in October of 2025.

Hikers must now follow a detour onto the Tonto Trail, which is longer and more treacherous than the normal route.

鈥淚t adds another 4.5 miles of distance on a trail with no shade and no water, where temperatures regularly exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit,鈥� said Smith. 鈥淥thers are skipping the detour and simply sticking to the South Kaibab, which is extremely strenuous and also lacks shade and water.鈥�

According to Smith, the majority of the recent helicopter rescues involved hikers who underestimated the added difficulty of the detour and then suffered symptoms of exhaustion, heat illness, or dehydration.

An to the Grand Canyon National Park website June 3 states, 鈥淗ikers should be prepared with adequate water, sun protection, and a realistic assessment of their physical abilities. Attempting these routes during the heat of the day (10 A.M. to 4 P.M.) is strongly discouraged.鈥�

It also states 鈥淭hese detour routes are not recommended in the extreme heat of the summer.鈥�

Smith said that performing rescues along the detour also poses dangers for Grand Canyon SAR personnel. Hikers along the detour听are difficult to reach, especially after dark when the park helicopter is not available.

During medevac incidents on May 29, 30, and 31, respectively, the SAR team had to reach hikers in remote听areas where a helicopter could not safely land. In each incident, Grand Canyon SAR members performed a dangerous maneuver known as a “hover exit,” which involves jumping out of the helicopter as it hovers several feet above the ground.

In each rescue, SAR personnel then loaded the patients into a metal litter connected to the helicopter via a rope鈥攁 technique known as “short-hauling.” The helicopter then took off with the litter dangling beneath and flew the hikers听to safety.

鈥淭he risk in all three of these rescues was incredibly high,鈥� Smith told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淥ne little thing goes wrong and everybody on scene is going to die.鈥�

Smith encourages anyone planning to hike into the Grand Canyon this summer to be extremely cautious about heat, to stay off the trails between 10 A.M. and 4 P.M., and to bring enough water. Hikers should prepare to travel in the dark with a good headlamps and extra batteries, she added.

鈥淧eople constantly underestimate the difficulty of our trails and the extent of the heat,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲hen it鈥檚 90 degrees Fahrenheit at the rim, it can be 120 degrees听at Phantom Ranch at the bottom. The hike down doesn鈥檛 feel so bad. But the hike back up is a different story.”

Smith suggests all hikers, even those embarking on short adventures, leave a time buffer听for delays and logistical complications. 鈥淭hat way, people aren鈥檛 feeling pressured to push ahead in exposed areas during the hottest part of the day, which is the exact recipe for making themselves heat sick,” she said.

Also, hikers shouldn’t rely on a helicopter rescue. Smith told 国产吃瓜黑料 that rescue is never guaranteed. 鈥淪taff are triaging often multiple calls at one time and have to respond to those most in need,” she said.

She added, 鈥淲e have also suffered a high number of visitors demanding rescue or being rude to dispatchers or command personnel who are trying to help, but not in the way or time frame those in need would like.鈥�

The current trail closures are posted on the park鈥檚 website. Seven temporary signs are also in place at key points on the trails, notifying hikers of detours and advising on heat, shade, and water availability. Guests who have concerns about their itinerary should stop in the Backcountry Information Center in the Grand Canyon village, or speak听a ranger along their hike.

The post 13 Hikers Needed to be Rescued in the Grand Canyon in One Week. Here鈥檚 Why. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On May 7, Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican congressman from Montana, and Rep. Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat from New Mexico, stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building to announce a new voting bloc within the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at protecting public lands.

Called the , the group includes 14 congressmen and women鈥攕even Democrats and seven Republicans鈥攁nd, according to the announcement, aims to “conserve natural resources while supporting recreation, local economies, and public access.”

The future health of America’s public lands is something that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should care about, Zinke stated.

“This is not a Republican or Democrat or a red or a blue issue,” He told 国产吃瓜黑料.“This is a red, white, and blue issue.鈥�

The new caucus represents a bold step for Zinke, 63, as it may put him at odds with the policy push of his former boss, President Donald Trump. Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, oversaw the Department of the Interior for two years during Trump’s first administration. The department oversees the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management, among other agencies.

During his stint, Zinke was often criticized by environmental groups for to Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument.听国产吃瓜黑料 profiled Zinke in 2017.

But Zinke said he disagrees with some of the Trump Administration’s latest policies on public lands. Since the start of 2025, the Trump Administration has made dramatic staff and budget cuts to these agencies, and rolled back environmental protections to public land. The administration’s proposed 2026 budget calls for the transfer of some National Park sites from federal to state management. And the administration has also floated around Western cities or National Parks to help pay for the president’s domestic agenda.

鈥淭he idea that you’re going to sell public land to get out of debt is folly,” Zinke told 国产吃瓜黑料. “But I’m always open to looking at ways to better manage them.鈥�

Zinke added, “I’m not in favor of selling or transferring public land.”

Instead, Zinke told 国产吃瓜黑料 that his vision for public land management comes from the forefathers of the U.S. National Parks.

鈥淎bout 120 years ago, the great ones鈥擱oosevelt, Muir, Gifford Pinchot鈥攖hey had a vision for the West, to preserve and protect, that gave us so much of the outdoor experiences that we now enjoy,鈥� Zinke said. 鈥淭he challenge today is how do we manage the next 100 years, given the new challenges we face?鈥�

A Multi-Use Model

Zinke said he believes in a “multi-use model” for public land that balances conservation, recreation, and yes, even resource extraction and development.

For example, Zinke, while he was Secretary of the Department of the Interior, oversaw an expansion and upgrade to staff housing inside Yellowstone National Park. Zinke told 国产吃瓜黑料 that the development was the 鈥渉ighest and best use鈥� for the public land on which it was built.

鈥淚t relieves a lot of the pressure on local communities when park employees, particularly seasonal, can live on campus,鈥� he said.

But Zinke added that the plan succeeded because it followed a well-defined political process that included a public comment period, sign-off by state and local officials, and even congressional notification.

“There’s a process because public lands belong to the American public,” he said.

Protection of public lands has become a hot-button topic in American politics, and over the years some communities and states have pushed back on U.S. Presidents for setting aside swaths of land as national monuments or wildlife refuges.

Zinke believes this frustration stems from leaders taking a hard line on environmental protection. Plans that forbid resource extraction or timber harvesting often leave the financial health of adjacent communities out of the decision.

“There’s a lot of anger out there of looking at our natural resources and mostly being blocked from a multiple-use model,” he said.

Zinke also believes public anger toward public land policies can be traced to the overlapping jurisdictional patchwork, which is something he wants the Public Land Caucus to streamline.

He asked听国产吃瓜黑料 to envision a river surrounded by U.S. National Forest that flows into a dam.

“The trout are managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior through the Fish and Wildlife; the salmon are managed by the Department of Commerce through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association; the forest is managed by the Department of Agriculture through the U.S. Forest Service,” he said. “The dam, which controls the flow of water, the temperature, and the riparian banks, is either managed by the Army Corps of Engineers.”

Should the local population want to repair a dam across the river, they would need to go through four separate governmental departments.

“The result is nothing gets done and we drown in bureaucracy,” he said.

But the most pressing issue for U.S. public lands is still the policy changes being driven by the Trump Administration. Zinke said the National Parks face a brain drain after losing several thousand employees this year due to layoffs and buyouts.

The National Parks Conservation Association estimates that 2,400 to 2,500 NPS staff have accepted voluntary buyouts or early retirements since January.听鈥淭he people that are retiring are your senior leaders that have a lot of experience,鈥� said Zinke.

But Zinke also said he believes some of the largest U.S. National Parks are adequately staffed for 2025. 鈥淎t Yellowstone, the numbers of seasonal and permanent [employees] are the highest ever,鈥� Zinke said.

Zinke also called the proposed 2026 plan for the NPS鈥攖o trim $1.2 billion from its $4.8 billion annual spend鈥攁 “skinny budget.”

“My concern as a former Navy SEAL and Secretary of the Interior is to make sure the front line is healthy,” he said. “That’s our National Parks and forests.”

What he鈥檚 not satisfied with is the idea of selling or transferring federal public lands, both of which have recently been proposed by the Trump Administration. Zinke points to Little Bighorn Battlefield, a National Monument.

鈥淚t just so happens to be in Montana,鈥� Zinke said, 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 a national treasure.鈥�

The post Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke Opposes the Plan to Sell Public Lands appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Spring is normally quiet at national park conservancies, the nonprofit groups that raise money and recruit volunteers for the U.S. National Parks. In March and April, staffers at these charity organizations finalize fundraising campaigns in advance of the busy summer months.

But this spring has been exceptionally busy at the Shenandoah National Park Trust, which raises money for Virginia鈥檚 Shenandoah National Park. The office is abuzz with ringing phones and pinging email notifications, Jessica Cocciolone, the executive director, told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had more than 150 inquiries about volunteering in just the past two months,鈥� Cocciolone said. That鈥檚 more than triple the total number of inquiries the group received in 2024.

It鈥檚 a similar story with the Friends of Acadia, the nonprofit attached to Maine鈥檚 Acadia National Park. When I exchanged emails with Perrin Doniger, the group鈥檚 vice president of marketing, the group was making final preparations for its Earth Day Roadside Cleanup on April 26.

Friends of Acadia had already reached its capacity of 350 volunteers, Doniger told me. 鈥淲e’re seeing a tremendous amount of support for Acadia National Park from our members and volunteers right now,鈥� she said in an email.

This is , or the rest of America鈥檚 63 national parks and 433 National Park Service-managed sites. Starting in February, the Federal government fired 1,000 NPS workers and persuaded 750 to take buyouts. Since then, the听 government has issued a flurry of unprecedented orders that range from requiring parks to giving the power to 鈥渆ffectuate the consolidation, unification and optimization of administrative functions鈥� within the NPS.

As the NPS has been shaken up, the nonprofits associated with individual National Parks have seen a major uptick in volunteers and cash donations. 国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to some of the most prominent NPS nonprofits, and heard a similar story.

鈥淲e’re seeing a lot of interest among our supporters and our members in finding ways they can express their care for the park,鈥� said Elizabeth Silkes, chief executive officer for the Grand Canyon Conservancy (GCC). The organization launched a new fundraising campaign on April 24 called Stand Together for Grand Canyon.

The includes information on how to connect with elected representatives to speak up for national parks, as well as links to sign up to volunteer and to donate money. Silkes said the GCC is still auditing their donations from the first quarter of 2025, but she anticipates an increase from 2024.

While the NPS is funded by the federal government, nonprofits like the Grand Canyon Conservancy pay for a wide array of programs, from trail maintenance, to educational classes for kids, to seasonal staff inside of the park. Each conservancy has its own strategy for investing funds and manpower.

At Grand Canyon National Park, the GCC operates six park stores next to visitor centers, and also completes annual building maintenance at two historic buildings: the Kolb Studio and Verkamp Residences.

The GCC also provides funding and volunteers for the Grand Canyon’s Preventative Search and Rescue teams, which educate visitors on how to stay safe on the trails.

Silkes said the funds garnered from the 2025 campaign campaign will go directly toward ensuring 鈥渢he stability of the park.鈥� She doesn鈥檛 have details about how the funds will be spent, but said that in times of financial uncertainty, NPS programs around scientific research, climate research, and conservation are put under threat. Partnership initiatives with the Grand Canyon鈥檚 eleven associated tribes are also jeopardized. “GCC funds are always applied to the priority areas identified by our park partners, and we are prepared to be responsive as their needs evolve,” said Silkes.

Rocky Mountain Conservancy (RMC), the nonprofit for Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, has a 鈥渉ealthy best-use fund,鈥� according to Kaci Yoh, Communications Manager, that鈥檚 designed to help its partner park pivot in times of, say, shifting priorities in the White House. But with so many changes happening so fast, the RMC hasn’t yet received guidance from Rocky Mountain National Park about how to spend those funds in 2025.

Like the GCC, Yoh has seen a surge of calls and emails from people looking to volunteer, particularly offering to help fill in where Rocky Mountain Park has lost staff.

Yoh said that volunteers cannot overcome the park’s need for full-time staff. 鈥淧ark staff are necessary to fulfill the roles that they have because they’re highly trained and vetted for their particular position,鈥� said Yoh.

Or as Cocciolone at Shenandoah put it, 鈥淭he challenge isn鈥檛 interest鈥攊t鈥檚 capacity. As park staff numbers go down, there鈥檚 less ability to train, manage, and support volunteers.鈥�

The Shenandoah Trust has, in the past, helped the park during government shutdowns, providing portable restrooms and volunteer support, Cocciolone said. During normal years, the Shenandoah Trust supplies campground hosts, volunteers to remove invasive species, and trail crews, among other positions.

“Historically, philanthropic support has not replaced federal funding or paid for permanent government roles,” Cocciolone said. “Our role is to provide additive support that enhances what the federal budget enables, not to supplant it.”

But the staff cuts within the NPS have forced some conservancy leaders to rethink this approach. Shenandoah National Park Trust is considering expanding its role to fund permanent park positions. 鈥淲e firmly believe it鈥檚 the federal government鈥檚 job to operate and steward these parks in line with the NPS mission,鈥� Cocciolone said. 鈥淏ut we also know these are unprecedented times, and we鈥檙e being asked to do more.鈥�

Cassius M. Cash, President and CEO of Yosemite Conservancy, echoed that sentiment .听鈥淚f park leadership needs new solutions to keep visitor services running, how can we be creative in our approach while remaining true to our own mission?鈥� Cash wrote.

Cash also stated that while the Yosemite Conservancy is a nonpartisan organization, the group would work closely with 鈥減artners and stakeholders who understand the importance of protecting national parks in times of transition.鈥�

Cocciolone concurred. 鈥淲e鈥檙e also leaning more into advocacy鈥攈elping educate donors, policymakers, and our community about what these cuts really mean on the ground,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about what gets funded, but what gets lost if we don鈥檛 act.鈥�

The post National Park Nonprofits Are Booming Amid the Park Service Turmoil appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

America’s 63 national parks and 433 NPS-managed sites should remain fully “open and accessible” to visitors, despite the recent staffing cuts, according to Interior Secretary Douglas Burgum’s .

Burgum’s mandate included another order: before reducing operating hours or closing visitor services like trails and campgrounds, national parklands must first consult with the NPS director and the assistant secretary for U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

The statement has sparked a debate within the NPS and the advocacy groups in its orbit. Proponents say that the order provides a roadmap for the Department of the Interior to ramp up staffing at the NPS sites so that the general public can enjoy them.

But critics say that the move forces understaffed parklands to proceed with services and open infrastructure despite a lack of manpower.

鈥淭he way that it’s written is hugely problematic,鈥� Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淵ou can’t wait for a political appointee in Washington D.C. to get back to you on a closure you need to make right now.鈥�

Brengel referenced Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where the Kilauea volcano has been erupting on and off since December 2024. It鈥檚 currently on again and spewing lava. 鈥淧ark superintendents need to be nimble in order to keep visitors safe,鈥� Brengel said.

NPCA is one of several non-profit organizations that have sounded the alarm about the feasibility of implementing the order. 鈥淚t sets up a situation that could be highly dangerous for park visitors,鈥� Brengel said.

But Rachel Pawlitz, public affairs chief for the National Park Service, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that the order is a win for the parks. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not unusual for the staffing needs to fluctuate,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his order spells out a process that will allow us to coordinate closely with leadership in the Interior Department to meet the evolving needs of our visitors, adapting as needed, to ensure visitor satisfaction.鈥�

In Section 4 of the memo, Burgum orders the Interior Department to “take action to ensure that NPS is properly staffed to support the operating hours and needs of each park unit.”

Another group praising Burgum’s order is The American Bus Association, a trade group representing coach and tour bus companies.听鈥淥verall, this action by the Department of the Interior underscores a commitment to keeping national parks open, accessible, and welcoming,” the group wrote in a statement. “For tour operators who rely on predictable access to NPS-managed sites, the order offers much-needed clarity and assurance, ensuring their ability to deliver high-quality travel experiences in partnership with the nation鈥檚 public lands.鈥�

The order comes on the heels of a challenging two months for the NPS. Starting in February, the Trump Administration began enacting mass layoffs, firings, and hiring freezes across the agency. More than 1,000 NPS employees were cut, and another 700 took buyouts. Since then, the NPS has been quietly hiring back some workers and also bringing on thousands of seasonal employees for the busy spring and summer months.

Several NPS sites, including California鈥檚 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Yosemite National Park, have had to cancel programs and scale back on opening hours. Arches National Park in Utah hiking area on March 23 due to staffing shortages. A park spokesperson told听国产吃瓜黑料 that the move to close Fiery Furnace was due to safety.

“The Fiery Furnace is a labyrinth, and one sprained ankle can trigger a rescue,” Karen Henker, a spokesperson for Arches National Park, said. “And that鈥檚 five hours and ten staff people to carry someone out.”

On Thursday, April 10, Arches National Park announced on its website that to hikers on April 15. Ranger-guided tours will resume on May 4.

A National Park Service ranger speaking anonymously to 国产吃瓜黑料 expressed concern that reopening some closed areas could damage the parks. 鈥淪ure we can keep everything open,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut who wants to recreate in a park with broken down facilities and no maintenance and no search and rescue?鈥�

Bill Wade, the executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, a non-profit group that advocates for NPS employees, said that the order puts park superintendents in a difficult situation. Under the Organic Act of 1916, NPS employees are to protect the nation鈥檚 parks and monuments while also providing for public enjoyment now and for future generations.

Wade, who was superintendent at Shenandoah National Park for ten years, said the order places the needs of the public ahead of conserving park resources.

“The law gives priority to protecting the resources, so if you are a superintendent, you must be able to do this, even if you have limited resources, before you put them toward keeping the trails open, keeping the visitor centers open, keeping the public restrooms clean, those sorts of things,” Wade said.

He added, 鈥淚 hate to say it, but I’m glad I’m not a superintendent right now.鈥�

The post The Feds Have Ordered National Parks to Remain 鈥淥pen and Accessible.鈥� Is That a Good Thing? appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

American ultrarunner has set a bold goal for 2025: ascend Mount Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen faster than anyone in history. Andrews, 34, who has set speed records on 26,781-foot Manaslu and 22,837-foot Aconcagua, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that he鈥檚 going to attempt the Fastest Known Time (FKT) for ascending Everest via the South Col route this May.

鈥淚n mountaineering, it鈥檚 almost like Everest has gotten a bad reputation鈥攖oo crowded, too commercial, people doing it for the wrong reasons,鈥� Andrews told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淏ut when it comes to mountain running records, it represents the ultimate progression.鈥�

In May, Andrews will depart Nepal鈥檚 Everest Base Camp and ascend the Khumbu Icefall, the Western Cwm, Lhotse Face, past the South Col and on to the 29,032-foot summit. The total distance is 9.3 miles, with an elevation gain of 11,434 feet.

There are several speed records on Everest. Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa鈥檚 2003 ascent of Everest as the fastest at 10 hours, 56 minutes, 46 seconds. Lhakpa Gelu ascended the peak with supplemental oxygen. In 1998 Kaji Sherpa ascended the peak from Base Camp in 20 hours and 24 minutes, without the use of oxygen. In 2017, Catalan ultrarunner Kilian Jornet set a speed record of 26 hours for ascending the peak in true alpine style, without using oxygen or fixed ropes.

Andrews said he is targeting Kaji Sherpa鈥檚 record.

The tradeoff of going in May鈥攁nd following the main route used by commercial climbing parties鈥攊s that Andrews will have to potentially deal with traffic jams. Climbers form bottlenecks on the Nepal side. Andrews said he expects crowding on the peak in 2025.

鈥淲hen the previous record was set, there were definitely fewer people on the mountain,鈥� Andrews said. 鈥淏ut there weren鈥檛 any of those $10,000 espresso machines at Base Camp either, so there are pluses and minuses.鈥�

Andrews said his primary strategy for his Everest FKT attempt is to try and avoid the masses. 鈥淭he nice thing about Everest is that there鈥檚 a lot of groupthink, he said. 鈥淭he big climbing companies send all their teams up in the same couple of days.鈥�

He believes there鈥檚 wiggle room to start his climb before or after the biggest wave of climbers, even within a tight weather window, to make on-the-fly decisions that will help him avoid the route鈥檚 most notorious pinch points.

Andrews鈥� FKT attempt will be a solo ascent, backed by a significant support team on the mountain. 鈥淚t takes a village,鈥� he said. For logistics, including permitting, he鈥檚 working with Dawa Steven Sherpa, the CEO of Nepali guiding company Asian Trekking. The two worked together for Andrew鈥檚 FKT on Manaslu in September 2024. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the critical piece behind the scenes,鈥� Andrews told 国产吃瓜黑料.

On the lower sections of the route, Andrews will run with his good friend and climbing partner Chris Fisher. Fisher will also accompany Andrews through the Khumbu Icefall, considered one of the most dangerous sections of the South Col route. 鈥淗e鈥檚 my support person and my pacer,鈥� said Andrews.

Above the Khumbu Icefall, Andrews does not plan to spend a night at higher camps, but he will stash food, water, and gear in strategic locations along the route.

Andrews told 国产吃瓜黑料 that the peak鈥檚 upper-most section, from Camp 4 to the summit, will be the key to his attempt. 鈥淭he last 800 meters could take me four hours or it could take me 12 hours,鈥� Andrews said. 鈥淭hat will likely make or break the route.鈥�

In preparation for the climb, Andrews has been using a hypoxic generator at home to simulate the effects of extreme altitude while training.

For clothing, Andrews is planning both a “warm weather” and “cold weather” kit. 鈥淚 think the most important thing will be layering and having a setup where I can move comfortably and never get too hot or too cold,鈥� he said. Andrews worked with sponsor La Sportiva on a modular system to easily add and subtract layers as temperatures shift. The small, custom backpack he鈥檒l use to carry the essentials was made in the USA by FSP Outdoors.

He hopes that his attempt will inspire people to do hard things. 鈥淲hether that’s climbing a mountain, running a marathon, starting a business, asking out the girl at the coffee shop, whatever that is, I hope that what I’m doing can inspire a handful of people to do something hard, because it’s tremendously rewarding and fulfilling,鈥� Andrews said

He also hopes that it will encourage other high-level mountain athletes to come to the Himalayas to try to break speed records. 鈥淚 think that’s what’s exciting about sport,鈥� said Andrews, 鈥渢he continued competition across generations.鈥�

As for risk, Andrews recognizes the life-or-death stakes. but he doesn鈥檛 think that speed records lure climbers into taking unnecessary risks. 鈥淧eople who are realistically in a position to attempt something like a speed record on an 8000-meter peak understand there will always be risk and danger when you鈥檙e competing in the mountains,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always something that you have to weigh carefully.鈥�

Before he became a high-altitude mountain runner, Andrews was a two-time Olympic Trials qualifier for the marathon (in 2016 and 2020), and a world champion ultrarunner. He splits his time between Flagstaff, Arizona, and Quito, Ecuador, where he trains extensively at 16,000 feet and above.

His first major mountain speed record was in 2021 on 19,347-foot , Ecuador鈥檚 second highest summit, in 1:36:35. Andrews has since set FKTs on 19,340-foot , Africa鈥檚 tallest mountain, in 6:37:57, and Argentina鈥檚 22,838-foot , the highest peak outside of Asia, in 11:24:46.

Andrews鈥� perhaps greatest accomplishment yet came when he set a new in 2024. It was his first record on one of the world鈥檚 8000ers鈥攖he 14 peaks that stand at 8,000 metres (26,247 feet) and above.

鈥淭hat was the moment when running Everest became real for me,鈥� Andrews said.

The post Tyler Andrews to Attempt Everest Speed Record appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Alex Wild, 35, has been a park ranger for 15 years, working seasonal National Park Service positions for five of the last six years. Then, in 2024, Wild landed his dream job as an interpretive ranger at California鈥檚 Devil鈥檚 Postpile National Monument. He was still within the 12-month probationary period that all NPS workers undergo when they start a new position when the Trump Administration began slashing NPS jobs on February 14. Like thousands of other federal workers, Wild was told that afternoon that he鈥檇 been let go.

鈥淚 was the one who interacted with the park鈥檚 visitors, who handed out the badges for the Junior Ranger program, who coordinated visits from churches and other community groups,鈥� Wild told 国产吃瓜黑料. He was also the park鈥檚 only EMT, and the first responder for emergencies, assisting in multiple incidents every week.

Like many cut NPS staffers, Wild to express his sadness. 鈥淢y heart is broken for all of the other people who lost their jobs and their housing,鈥� he wrote on Instagram. 鈥淢y heart is broken for the parks and landscapes that will be damaged. And my heart is broken for my country.鈥�

Wild is one of an estimated 5,000 employees working for public lands who have lost their jobs since February 14. About 1,000 of these were with the National Park Service鈥攁nother reportedly took buyouts and went into early retirement. The rest were with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

In the days since the massive layoffs, media outlets and the public have sought to understand how these cuts will impact specific National Parks. After all, the busy spring and summer travel seasons are on the horizon, and in just a few weeks millions of Americans will descend on America鈥檚 parklands and campgrounds for their vacations.

Most NPS site have yet to publish details on which jobs have been lost amid the culling, and the NPS’s national office has not distributed a list of fired employees.听国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to the NPS national office to inquire about specific jobs that were terminated, but the agency didn’t respond. 听鈥淭he National Park Service is hiring seasonal workers to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management. We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks,鈥� read a statement released by the NPS on February 27.

Instead, the public has pieced together information via , , and crowdsourced information. This lack of details has caused headaches with the non-profit groups that work with the NPS and other agencies to assist with trail projects and fundraising.

鈥淭here hasn鈥檛 been any transparency from the administration about the layoffs or deferred resignations. The public is in the dark,鈥� said Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of governmental affairs for the National Park Conservation Association. 鈥淭hankfully, many park rangers and staff who were laid off are speaking out and we are learning more about the positions lost. It should concern the public that maintenance technicians, wildlife biologists, interpreters, archeologists, ecologists who test water safety, fishery biologists, and EMTs were fired.鈥�

Amid the lack of information, social media posts like the one Wild published have helped media outlets and the general public get a sense of just how sweeping and damaging the cuts have been to the agency. This month, a non-profit group called the (ANPR) has shared crowdsourced information about how many layoffs have occurred at each park. The information was compiled by a seasonal ranger who has asked to remain anonymous. The ranger has maintained a detailed spreadsheet with the number of jobs lost at all 433 NPS sites, including the 63 national parks.

Bill Wade, the executive director of the ANPR, called the list “unofficial,” but said that the information has come from reliable sources.

“These numbers come from existing employees at national parks, or from friends groups that know what is going on at the park,” he told 国产吃瓜黑料.听Wade said that social media posts like the one Wild published have also helped his group tally the layoffs.

As of Friday, February 28, the group had charted 759 firings. 国产吃瓜黑料 was able to view the spreadsheet, and see how the layoffs impacted each national park. According to the ANPR鈥檚 data, these are the number of employees lost at each park:

• Acadia National Park: 8
• Arches National Park: 3
• Badlands National Park: 1
• Big Bend National Park: 5
• Biscayne National Park: 3
• Blue Ridge Parkway: 1
• Bryce Canyon National Park: 2
• Capitol Reef National Park: 1
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park: 14
• Channel Islands National Park: 6
• Congaree National Park: 1
• Crater Lake National Park: 1
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park: 4
• Death Valley National Park: 6
• Denali National Park and Reserve: 4
• Dry Tortugas National Park: 1
• Everglades National Park: 15
• Glacier National Park: 2
• Grand Canyon National Park: 10
• Grand Teton National Park: 4
• Great Basin National Park: 5
• Great Sand Dunes: 2
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 12
• Haleakala National Park: 7
• Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: 7
• Isle Royale National Park: 1
• Joshua Tree National Park: 6
• Kenai Fjords National Park: 1
• Lassen Volcanic National Park: 1
• Mammoth Cave National Park: 15
• Mesa Verde National Park: 2
• Mount Rainier National Park: 10
• National Capital Parks-East: 6
• American Samoa: 5
• North Cascades National Park: 6
• Olympic National Park: 5
• Petrified Forest National Park: 5
• Pinnacles National Park: 2
• Redwood National Park: 6
• Rocky Mountain National Park: 12
• Saguaro National Park: 2
• Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park: 10
• Shenandoah National Park: 15
• Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 2
• Virgin Islands National Park: 2
• Wrangell-St Elias: 1
• Yellowstone National Park: 7
• Yosemite National Park: 9
• Zion National Park: 11

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Other areas managed by the NPS have suffered major cuts as well, according to the ANPR data. Lake Mead National Recreation area in Arizona lost 13 staffers, including an aquatic ecologist who tests water safety. Gateway National Recreation Area in New York and New Jersey lost 11 staffers. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area lost 12, and Golden Gate National Recreation Area lost 10. The NPS鈥檚 Historic Preservation Training Center, a group that helps restore and maintain historic structures, let 34 people go.

The cuts have impacted a wide swath of jobs, from custodians and trail maintenance crews, to visitor center workers and听 fee collectors, as well as scientists and teachers. “We’ve been told that interpretive rangers and people who do education for kids and school groups were hit the hardest,” Wade said. “And people who are involved in collecting fees.”

Aubry Andreas, 29, was working as a visual information specialist at Rocky Mountain National Park when she became one of the park鈥檚 12 probationary employees fired on February 14.

Andres oversaw all of the park鈥檚 printed materials, which in 2023 was the fifth-most visited NPS site with 4 million visitors. Among her tasks were creating the annual visitor’s guide, maintaining the official park map and the area maps that get handed out to visitors, and helping with park signage.

At the time of her termination, Aubry was leading an initiative to develop a new accessibility guide to Rocky Mountain,听both for people with physical limitations as well as cognitive considerations. She was also redesigning the park鈥檚 junior ranger book using money from a grant.

鈥淭he crazy thing is, I鈥檓 the only Visual Information Specialist there,鈥� Andreas told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淣ow that I’m gone, all that work will either have to get dropped鈥攚hich obviously is going to impact visitors鈥攐r it’s going to get placed onto other people who already have their own full breadth of duties and responsibilities to carry out.鈥�

A group of former and current NPS workers plan to hold protests at more than 100 sites managed by the agency. The group is calling itself 鈥�.鈥�

Other Agencies Feel the Cuts

Thousands of employees with other agencies overseeing public land have also lost their jobs throughout February. estimates that the National Forest Service lost 3,400 positions. Throughout February, laid-off employees from these agencies have also posted about their plights online.

The day before she lost her job with the U.S. Forest Service, Arianna Knight, the Wilderness Trails Supervisor for the Yellowstone Ranger District in Montana, was working late. She traversed the backcountry adjacent to Yellowstone National Park by snowmobile, doing routine maintenance on one of her district鈥檚 ten public rental cabins. When Knight, 29, returned to the office, she received an ominous text from her boss. 鈥淭here were whisperings of the terminations starting,鈥� Knight told 国产吃瓜黑料.

At home that evening, Knight checked the /fednews page on Reddit and learned that probationary employees听were going to be fired. Since stepping into a management role earlier in the year, she had been given that designation.

鈥淚 went into the office the next day knowing it was a lost cause,鈥� Knight said.

Losing Knight will have a dramatic impact on the Yellowstone Ranger District. In 2024 her maintenance team鈥攕he managed between two and eight workers鈥攃leared 4,062 trees that had fallen across trails near Yellowstone. Knight believes her ranger district won’t have the manpower in 2025 to do the same job. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not enough support available from nonprofits and volunteers, and they’re not specialized enough to do the type of work that we do,” she said.

Nate Stickler, 25, who was a trails crew leader in Colorado鈥檚 San Juan National Forest, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that he was two months away from finishing his probationary period when the cuts came down. The San Juan trails crew is comprised of seasonal workers, mostly novices, and volunteers. At the start of the season, it was Stickler鈥檚 job to train the crew, on everything from how to use a radio for communications in the backcountry to how to use a chainsaw.

鈥淭his is absolutely going to affect people鈥檚 experience of our public lands,鈥� Stickler said. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that people will speak up and contact their congress person before the situation gets completely out of control.鈥�

Wild contends that by opting to fire people on probationary status, the federal government will lose some of its best public land managers. 鈥淭hese are the people who鈥檇 just gotten promotions,鈥� he said. 鈥淥r who鈥檇 performed so well in seasonal roles that they were offered permanent positions.鈥�

Sam Oseroff, 34, is one. In 2024 he was hired by the Middle Fork Ranger District in Willamette National Forest as a seasonal employee. After several months, the NFS offered him a permanent job as a forestry technician, starting in January, 2025.

鈥淚t was bad timing,鈥� Osteroff said. Doubly so because he鈥檇 just purchased a house鈥攁 decision he鈥檇 made after getting the offer for permanent work.

When Osteroff was let go, he was in the midst of replacing rotted beams on the roof of a shelter in one of the district鈥檚 campgrounds. He鈥檚 not sure who will take over the project, or how the rest of the maintenance that happens during winter is going to get finished. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a hot springs, a couple dozen trailheads, and about 15 campgrounds,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd only two people left to take care of them.鈥�

He’s also worried about the portion of the national forest closest to Eugene, Oregon, where unhoused people sometimes set up temporary camps, leaving behind garbage and human waste. 鈥淚n the fall, we filled a pickup truck and 26-foot trailer full of gross stuff from a campsite we found along Salomon Creek,” he said.

Knight said what鈥檚 happening is a devastating loss. 鈥淣ot only was my career taken from me in a way that can’t be replaced, but an entire industry is being dismantled,鈥� she said.

The post Here鈥檚 How Many Employees Each National Park Is Losing appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Bestselling author Jon Krakauer is hitting back at a vocal online critic.

On Thursday, February 6, Krakauer, 70, that he will publish an and about his bestselling book Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster.

The purpose of the project, Krakauer told 国产吃瓜黑料, was to refute what he calls 鈥渆gregious allegations” made by a . In 2024, Tracy, a California lawyer, recorded a series of his own videos to YouTube that called into question multiple elements of Krakauer鈥檚 book.

鈥淚 believe standing up for the truth is a moral imperative, even when doing so takes a personal toll and is likely to fail,鈥� Krakauer told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淚f you watch my videos, or read the text versions, I鈥檓 pretty sure you will see why I took the trouble to post them.鈥�

In his Instagram post announcing the project, Krakauer called Tracy鈥檚 videos 鈥渂ullshit鈥� and an 鈥渋rresponsible misrepresentation of what happened on Everest in 1996.鈥�

In a statement provided to 国产吃瓜黑料, Tracy refuted the claim. He said that Krakauer鈥檚 video series simply creates 鈥渕ore confusion鈥� around the Mount Everest disaster. 鈥淜rakauer has already agreed to make numerous revisions to his book and this undermines the claim that my videos are bullshit,鈥� he wrote.

Into Thin Air is Krakauer鈥檚 first-person account of the deadly 1996 climbing season on Everest, when 12 people died on the mountain, the most in a single season up to that date. Krakauer joined a guided ascent while reporting a story for 国产吃瓜黑料 about the growth of commercial expeditions to the peak. He climbed Everest with the guiding company 国产吃瓜黑料 Consultants, which was led by New Zealand mountaineer Rob Hall, and he reached the summit on May 10.

But a storm battered the peak shortly after Krakauer and others began their descent, and in the ensuing melee eight climbers and guides, including Hall, perished. Krakauer and others were able to safely descend.

Krakauer鈥檚 account ran in 国产吃瓜黑料 in September 1996, and the first edition of the book was published in April听1997.

The book garnered international acclaim upon its release, and it hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list. In 1998 it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the General Nonfiction category. The book was adapted as a TV movie in 1997, and it became the basis for the 2015 Hollywood film Everest.

But Krakauer鈥檚 account was also subject to criticism and pushback upon the book’s release. In 1997, a Russian climber named Anatoli Boukreev, who was also on Everest in May 1996, co-authored his own version of events in a book titled 听And over the years, other writers and Internet commenters have sought to debunk elements of the story.

Tracy launched his YouTube channel in 2018 as a way to explore the mysterious 1924 disappearance of climbers George Mallory and Andrew 鈥淪andy鈥� Irvine on Mount Everest. But in April 2024, he published a video titled 鈥溾�� that generated 80,000 views. Tracy went on to record 17 total videos about the book, including ones titled 鈥淐orrecting the Record on Krakauer鈥檚 Statistics,鈥� and 鈥淩esponse to Jon Krakauer: The Subtle Art of Misdirection.鈥�

“Krakauer has admitted numerous substantial errors in his book and previous interviews,” Tracy wrote to听国产吃瓜黑料. Tracy sent听国产吃瓜黑料 a of mistakes he says are in the book. In Krakauer’s first video, he admits that Tracy’s sleuthing pointed out inaccuracies in the book, and that he intends to update future editions to address them.

But Krakauer’s videos also present point-by-point rebuttals to Tracy’s more serious assertions. The first video, titled “” addresses the impact that bottlenecks had on the ascent.

After Krakauer announced the YouTube series, a handful of prominent mountaineers and journalists voiced their support in the comments section on his Instagram page.

“Words matter. I鈥檓 glad you are defending yours but I鈥檓 sorry you have to,” wrote Melissa Arnot Reid.

“Jon, I truly believe that you did your very best to tackle this challenging story,” wrote climber Ed Viesturs, the first American to ascend the world’s 14 highest peaks. “You were meticulous in piecing together this complicated event and did your due diligence.”

Viesturs, 65, was also on Everest during the 1996 climbing season and helped rescue some of the survivors from the storm. “Into Thin Air is still the definitive account of the events on the Everest in the spring of 1996,” Viesturs added.

Others, however, are curious why Krakauer has chosen to acknowledge Tracy.

Scott Carney, an investigative journalist, told 国产吃瓜黑料,听鈥淏y Krakauer calling attention to this, he鈥檚 raising Tracy鈥檚 profile. It seems counterproductive.鈥�

But Krakauer told听国产吃瓜黑料 that sometimes journalists should address their online critics. “These days, people seem way too willing to surrender the online discourse to domineering [people] trying to gaslight us,” he said.

The post Jon Krakauer鈥檚 Latest Project: Defending 鈥業nto Thin Air鈥� from Online Critics appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On Monday, January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump to rename Alaska鈥檚 20,310-foot Denali, the highest peak in North America. The mountain鈥檚 name will revert to Mount McKinley, named for William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, who was assassinated on September 14, 1901.

The decree undoes the work of former President Barack Obama, who, in 2015 officially changed the name from Mount McKinley to Denali, the peak鈥檚 traditional name from the Koyukon Athabascan language, which is spoken by Alaska’s Native inhabitants. Denali translates as 鈥渢he high one鈥� or 鈥渢he great one.鈥�

The name change will take effect within 30 days. The name of Denali National Park and Preserve, where the mountain sits, will not change.

Policy wonks (and ) know that there has been infighting in Congress about the name of North America鈥檚 highest peak since at least 1975. That was the first year the state of Alaska petitioned to use the local name Denali instead of McKinley. Lawmakers from Ohio, McKinley鈥檚 home state, pushed back.

But how do the people whose lives and livelihoods depend on the mountain feel about Denali鈥檚 name change? We asked some of Denali鈥檚, er McKinley鈥檚, most prominent athletes, guides, and rangers.

Why Alaskans Prefer the Name Denali

The guides and mountaineers who spoke to 国产吃瓜黑料 for this story expressed dismay at the name change.

鈥淚t鈥檚 worth mentioning that the President suggested doing this about six years ago,鈥� says Mark Westman, an Alaska resident and former ranger on the mountain. 鈥淎nd he was told by Alaska’s two senators鈥攂oth of whom are Republicans and both who are still the current senators鈥攏ot to do that.鈥�

Indeed, on Monday, January 21, Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, : 鈥淥ur nation鈥檚 tallest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, must continue to be known by the rightful name bestowed by Alaska Koyukon Athabascans, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial.鈥�

Guides and climbers echoed Murkowski鈥檚 sentiment鈥攖he importance of the name Denali lies in its connection to Alaska鈥檚 precolonial听history, they said.

鈥淭he name Denali reflects a local cultural heritage here that predates the United States,鈥� Westman says. 鈥淭he name McKinley was an arbitrary name given for someone who had never even set foot here. He was from Ohio.鈥�

Conrad Anker, who began climbing in the Alaska Range in 1987, said he was overjoyed when the peak鈥檚 Indigenous name was officially restored in 2015. Changing the name back, he said, makes no sense to outdoor enthusiasts, local Alaskans, or the region鈥檚 Indigenous population.

鈥淚t was fitting to honor the people of Alaska with the rightful name,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 worth noting that the vast majority of peaks in the Himalayas have local names.”

Guide Melissa Arnot Reid, the first American woman to ascend and descend Everest without supplemental oxygen, said that precolonial names such as Denali enhance a visitor鈥檚 connection to a place. That鈥檚 why she encourages her climbing clients to refer to peaks and regions by traditional names.

鈥淒iscovering what the local people call a place, and why, enhances our connection to that place,鈥� she says.

Does Anyone Even Use the Name Mount McKinley?

Even before the 2015 name change, climbers and guides frequently used the peak’s Native name, guides told us. Westman, who first came to the peak in 1994, said that while the names were used interchangeably by locals back then, the preference was to call it Denali.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been a difference in the name Denali for, well, forever,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ative Alaskans were calling it Denali for thousands of years before anybody else came here. In the climbing community, it鈥檚 almost universal鈥擨 almost never hear anybody call it McKinley.鈥�

In the days following the announcement, many Alaskan residents appear to agree. On Tuesday, January 21, the group asked 1,816 adults in Alaska about the proposed name change. The survey found that 54 percent opposed it, while just 26 percent supported the change.

Ski mountaineer Kit DesLauriers, the first person to hike and then ski the Seven Summits, pointed out that even Alaska鈥檚 political leaders have used the name Denali publicly for decades. 鈥淲ith Denali, the traditional name has been the choice not only of Alaskan Native people, but also of the entire state including its political leadership since at least 1975,鈥� she says.

Dave Hahn of RMI Mountain Guides, who has ascended the peak 25 times, said that the mountain is 鈥渂ig enough to handle however many names you want to throw at it.鈥�

But he stressed that Denali felt like it was always the appropriate title within the climbing community. 鈥淚 never felt that McKinley was wrong鈥攊t honored a president that was assassinated while in office,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I think that Denali is truer to where the mountain is, and who the people around the mountain are, recognizing that it鈥檚 an Alaskan mountain and not a Washington D.C. mountain.鈥�

Most People Will Still Say Denali

The sources who spoke to 国产吃瓜黑料 for this story agreed on one thing: they will continue to call the peak by its Native name going forward.

鈥淚 intend to continue to refer to the great mountain as Denali for as long as I鈥檓 alive, and I encourage every other climber to do the same,鈥� wrote author听Jon Krakauer听in an email. 鈥淭rump might be able to officially rename it, but he will never be able to force me to call it anything except Denali.鈥�

Ultrarunner Jack Kuenzle, who in 2023 set the fastest known time for ascending the peak, echoed the sentiment.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine anybody will be actually utilizing McKinley,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never heard it called that.鈥�

Keith Sidle, who teaches mountaineering courses with the Alaska Mountaineering School, said the only thing he expects to see change is how the mountain is named on maps and signs. Sidle said his climbing buddies are already saying online that they will continue to use the Native name.

鈥淚t鈥檚 changing a name on a piece of paper, it鈥檚 not changing the mountain,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o the people that it really matters to, it鈥檚 not changing anything.鈥�

The post Trump Just Renamed North America鈥檚 Highest Peak. These Climbers Will Still Call It 鈥淒enali.鈥� appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

If you grew up on any one of the Great Lakes, like I did, you may have heard of the sea lamprey鈥攁 vampiric creature that literally sucks the life out of a lake trout. As a kid, I thought they were a myth, a horror story that parents liked to tell kids on fishing trips. I wasn鈥檛 aware of the havoc this parasitic fish wrought on the entire region when it first wiggled its way from the Atlantic Ocean into the largest freshwater ecosystem on earth.

A new documentary, The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery, unpacks the ecological crisis created by the lamprey, and the extraordinary effort to contain it. 鈥淭he sea lamprey is what put invasive species on the map in the Great Lakes,鈥� says director Lindsey Haskin. 鈥淔or many people, it was the first time they become aware of the scale of damage that鈥檚 possible.鈥�

The Great Lakes鈥擮ntario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior鈥攕traddle the border between Canada and the U.S. Five million people fish them every year, reeling in tasty catches like yellow perch and walleye, and even coho salmon, which was introduced for sport fishing in the late 1960s. Recreational and commercial fishing in the Great Lakes region is a $7 billion industry. Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie, my earliest outdoor memory is fishing with my dad from the Neff Road breakwall.

Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons narrates The Fish Thief. Simmons describes how sea lampreys worked their way into the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway to Lake Ontario. For most of history, Niagara Falls prevented them from spreading any further.

That changed in the early 1900s, with improvements to the Welland Canal, which bypasses Niagara Falls to create a shipping channel between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The first sea lamprey was found in Lake Erie in 1921. By 1938, sea lampreys had infiltrated the rest of the lakes, all the way to the farthest corners of Lake Superior.

Sea lampreys resemble eels with their long tubular shape. But their mouths are unmistakable: a suction cup lined with concentric circles of fangs, spiraling down to a toothed tongue. They latch onto other fish, create a wound with their razor-sharp teeth and tongue, and suck out blood and other fluids.

In the Atlantic Ocean, where sea lampreys have lived for more than 340 million years, they are mere parasites, attaching themselves most often to sharks and other sea mammals. But in the Great Lakes, very few fish are large enough to escape unscathed from a sea lamprey encounter. By the 1940s, the blood-suckers were killing their hosts鈥攍ake trout, lake whitefish, and ciscoes鈥攊n droves.

The region鈥檚 fishing industry began to collapse in the 1950s, paralyzing towns and Indigenous communities on every shoreline. By 1960, the annual Great Lakes catch, once around 15 million pounds of fish, had plummeted by 98 percent to a mere 300,000 pounds.

The Fish Thief, which has won awards on the environmental film festival circuit in North America and Europe, is the first to tell the story of the lamprey in its entirety, from the initial mystery of droves of dead fish, to the resulting ecological crisis, to the efforts to find a solution. It was eight years in the making.

Haskin, who grew up in the region, near Detroit, says they filmed in a variety of regions, 鈥渇rom the far east extremes of Lake Ontario all the way to Duluth, Minnesota, and down to Chicago.鈥�

What stood out most for Haskin about the project was the tenacity of the people involved devising a solution to the lakes鈥� ecological collapse. 鈥淭he original title for the film was Relentless, which applied to the sea lamprey, but also to the people that did battle with it,鈥� Haskin says. 鈥淭heir original ideas failed, but they just stuck to it and kept going and kept going and kept going and eventually found a solution that has been workable for almost 70 years now.鈥�

Part of the challenge was the cross-border cooperation required to study, test, and, eventually, implement processes to bring the ecosystem back into balance. It required federal government oversight, which most of the fishing industry, and many of the states and provinces bordering the Great Lakes, were hesitant at first to enlist. But eventually, they ran out of options. There was nothing left to do but trust that the government (and science) could find a solution. In 1955, the U.S. and Canada formed the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the first joint agency of its kind.

The commission confirmed that it was impossible to eradicate sea lampreys from the Great Lakes. But scientists could greatly reduce the invasive species鈥� numbers by attacking them during their larval stage, when they live as filter-feeders in lake tributaries. Some 6,000 compounds were tested to find the best 鈥渓ampricide,鈥� a pesticide capable of destroying lamprey larvae without significantly impacting other organisms, or causing long-term damage to the ecosystem.

Administering the pesticide to larvae in tributaries, as well as using barriers and traps to prohibit full-grown sea lampreys from making it out of the tributaries into the Great Lakes, cut the 鈥渧ampire fish鈥� population by 90 percent. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission, in partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been working to keep sea lampreys at that benign level ever since.

The sea monster of my youth is real. The next time someone from back home brings up sea lampreys, I鈥檓 going to have a whole lot more to add to the story.

The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery is set to release on January 31, 2025 in the U.S. and Canada, where it will be available to stream, download, or rent on platforms including Apple TV/iTunes, Amazon, Google/YouTube, and Tubi.

The post 鈥楾he Fish Thief鈥� Explores a Crisis in the Great Lakes Caused by the Sea Lamprey appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

This past fall,听Connor Herson decided to take a four-month break from his studies at Stanford University to go rock climbing. Herson, 21, is pursuing a degree in engineering, but his studies have often butted up against his desire to climb the toughest ascents in the country.

For the past three years, balancing college and climbing has meant squeezing as much of the latter as possible into winter, spring, and summer breaks鈥攑lus the occasional weekend trip to Yosemite during the school year. At age 15, Herson became the youngest person to free climb the Nose route on El Capitan.

鈥淚鈥檝e always balanced school and climbing but it鈥檚 gotten a lot trickier as I鈥檝e gotten deeper into both worlds,鈥� Herson told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淚 really wanted to see what I could do in a full season of Yosemite climbing.鈥�

Herson made the most of this most recent break from class. In November, he free climbed one of the hardest routes up 3,000-foot El Capitan听alongside famed American climber Tommy Caldwell. The ascent鈥攚hich only a handful of other climbers have done before as a free climb鈥攃emented Herson as Yosemite鈥檚 next great star.

鈥淐onnor is part of this super young generation that鈥檚 incredibly strong from having been brought up in modern-day climbing gyms,鈥� Caldwell told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淏ut he鈥檚 also an outlier among people his age in that he鈥檚 chosen to apply that strength and skill to big-wall climbing, which is so awesome to see.鈥�

On El Capitan, Herson and Caldwell free climbed a route known as the Heart, one of the most technically difficult lines up the granite behemoth. Of the Heart鈥檚 31 pitches, a whopping eight of them are at the 5.13 level. 听

The Heart was first free climbed in 2015 by Mason Earle and Brad Gobright, following five years of planning and attempts. Free climbing is a style that requires climbers to rely on ropes and equipment only for safety鈥攖hey cannot haul themselves up the route with gear. Other than Gobright, Earle, Caldwell, and Herson, the only other person to have successfully free climbed the Heart is Alex Honnold, in 2023.

Herson and Caldwell spent three days ascending the Heart, hauling their food, water, and portaledges听as they went. Herson told 国产吃瓜黑料 that free climbing on El Capitan with Caldwell was the realization of a lifelong dream.

鈥淗e was one of my heroes growing up,鈥� Herson said. 鈥淥f all the El Cap legends, no one stands out as much as Tommy Caldwell.鈥�

Herson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. His parents were avid climbers, and they听brought Herson and his sister, Kara, to the local climbing gym from the time they were toddlers. Herson started participating in competitive climbing events in middle school, and holds three national titles in sport climbing at the youth and collegiate levels.

He and his family also regularly traveled to Yosemite on weekends, and they took vacations to classic crags all across the U.S. Herson learned to trad climb (short for 鈥渢raditional鈥�) on these trips, placing his own gear for protection on the rock. His parents also introduced him to big-wall climbing鈥攎ulti-pitch routes that cover thousands of vertical听feet. Herson was just 12 years old when he first climbed Yosemite鈥檚 2,000-foot Half Dome alongside his dad, Jim, who is a robotics engineer.

“My parents give me a lot of support with life in general and in climbing,” Herson told Climbing in 2022. “They have made a lot of sacrifices. There are times when we go to crags which might not have the best routes for them.”

Herson鈥檚 classes in engineering at Stanford don鈥檛 leave him as much time as he鈥檇 like to devote to big-wall climbing. He prepared for what he called his “gap quarter” this fall in Yosemite by cramming in a weekend of climbing there with Alex Honnold in May. Among other projects, the two completed the second free ascent of a route called New Leaf. Afterward, Herson had to hurry back to school for a midterm exam.

鈥淏eing in physical shape is one thing,鈥� Herson said. 鈥淏ut more for me is the mental stress of school assignments or just anything school-related.鈥�

He added, 鈥淓ven if I’m not overtly thinking about that while climbing, it’s in the back of my mind.鈥�

Herson spent the spent the past two summers in Canada’s climbing capital of Squamish, British Columbia, a world-renowned destination with multiple big walls. By the time he roped up with Caldwell for the Heart, Herson was already in very elite company, having ticked off all of the hardest single-pitch trad climbs in both Squamish and Yosemite, including Squamish鈥檚 iconic Cobra Crack. His preparations paid off on El Capitan.

鈥淗e was the most solid person I’ve ever seen climbing up there,鈥� Caldwell said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 also very level-headed and safe鈥攍ike he wore a helmet all the time.鈥�

Caldwell also started climbing big walls in Yosemite as a teenager with his dad. But that was 30 years ago, when rock climbing听was much more of a fringe sport. 鈥淗e鈥檚 just so much more advanced than I was,鈥� Caldwell said.

Still, some things never change. Big-wall climbing comes with logistical challenges, particularly how to haul your food and supplies up the route. Herson was eager to learn Caldwell鈥檚 best practices. 鈥淭here are a lot of small tactical strategies that he’s such a master at,鈥� Herson said. 鈥淚t was so cool to be able to climb with him and leverage that, and just learn so much from him.鈥�

One of Herson鈥檚 biggest takeaways from the experience is that even Caldwell struggles on El Cap. 鈥淗e doesn’t struggle that much, but when he does, and it was something I struggled on too, it鈥檚 just really validating,鈥� said Herson.

Herson plans to resume his studies at Stanford in January, following the holiday break. In the meantime, he鈥檒l continue climbing in Yosemite until the snow starts to fall. After the Heart, Herson told 国产吃瓜黑料 that he would like to try every free-climbing route on El Capitan. 鈥淣ot all in one season or anything,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust slowly working away at trying all of them.鈥�

鈥淭he combination of challenges on El Cap, of placing your own protection to keep it safe while at the same time pulling moves that are close to your limit, really speaks to me,鈥� he added.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Caldwell can鈥檛 help but wonder what Herson would be able to accomplish in Yosemite if he pursued climbing full-time. 鈥淯p on the ledge [on El Cap], we mostly discussed how many semesters to take off from Stanford to climb,” Caldwell said. “As a parent, I鈥檓 in this weird position because I鈥檓 sure his parents don鈥檛 want him to drop out of school.”

Caldwell added, “But I鈥檓 also like, you could change climbing forever.鈥�

The post Connor Herson Took a Break from Stanford to Climb One of Yosemite鈥檚 Hardest Routes appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.